Kingdown Beach Clean 29th March Report

Three community minded villagers were responsible for organising the event, and came down to the beach despite an hour’s less sleep, armed with a gazebo, tables, hot and cold refreshments, and of course litter pickers, gloves and bags which were on loan from DDC.

Despite the damp and windy conditions, 60 or so people of all ages turned up to help collect accumulated rubbish in an area from the sea to the road, and Oldstairs Bay to Boundary Road. The sun came out at one point, but the wind decided to take down the gazebo a little early! Refreshments of teas and coffees were on offer for the volunteers who had braved the elements.

The willing volunteers, who came from Ringwould, Deal, and Bridge among other locations, and of course Kingsdown, offered a few observations on the most common items collected. They had picked up fishing tackle and tangled fishing lines, glass and plastic bottles, the soles of shoes, baby wipes, scraps of material, and many plastic food wrappers. In addition to these items, everyone felt that the campaign saying ‘there is no such thing as the poo fairy’ definitely needs to be repeated.

We finished with about 50 sacks, a lobster pot, a car wheel and a traffic cone, all of which Dover District Council collected after the event.

Thank you again to all those who braved the weather, to the village hall for the loan of the cups, to Mark Thomas for the gazebo, Jane Banks for the camping stove, Helen Williams for the extra rubbish sacks, and to DDC for the loan of the equipment. We hope everyone enjoys our litter free beach now the summer is coming!

Helen Williams, Jane Banks, and Mark Thomas

Kingsdown Beach statement...

Some of you may already know that Tingdene has withdrawn its planning application to install huge huts on Kingsdown White Cliff's beach, which is excellent news.

Those that signed the DDC website will have received a letter from DDC. This follows an intense period of work by Kingsdown Conservation Group who liaised with key expert bodies such as Natural England, National Trust, Kent AONB leading to these organisations filing strong objections plus KCG's own submission of a robust rebuttal which debunked the planners assertion that the huts would not damage this section of wild beach.

This combined with worldwide condemnation of the plans from 700+ who signed and commented through the online petition.

Whilst all of this is great news, we are aware that we still need to be vigilant about future plans, so KCG and others are keeping a watchful eye on future applications. If needed, we can reactivate the petition, review the rebuttal and get going once again.

Thanks so much for all your support during the last 3 weeks.

For more information on this campaign look at www.kingsdownconservationgroup.wordpress.com or www.kentbeachcomber.blogspot.co.uk

Kingsdown Beach Hut Campaign

Kingsdown Conservation Group have produced a campaign video to stop 12 beach huts being build on SSSI part of Kingsdown Beach.





See the video at this link http://youtu.be/IzoawsME_Xg

See the Campaigns web site at here

Two things you can do:

1) Sign the Online Petition here
2) Put an Objection on DDC planning site here (reference: 12/01016 )

Kinsdown Beach Huts - Online Petition

Our colleagues down in Kingdown have a online petition to stop the development of more beach huts in this fragile coastline

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dover-district-council-save-kingsdown-white-cliffs-beach-from-development

Kingdown Beach Huts

Kingsdown ConservationGroup

KINGSDOWN CONSERVATION GROUP BULLETIN NUMBER 16 – FEBRUARY 2013
URGENT – URGENT -- URGENT PLANNING

However busy you are, this development on Kingsdown Beach requires your urgent attention, please. It will take you only a minute to read.

An application has been made to install 12 wheeled huts on Kingsdown beach. They are 5.5 metres long and will be used exclusively by chalet owners from Kingsdown holiday park. The planning applicant is a firm called Tingdene; you can look them up on www.tingdene.co.uk.. They make mobile homes. This is what their huts will look like:


And this is where the huts will be installed. The beach is a legally-protected Site of Special Scientific Interest and it’s immediately overlooked by the Kent Downs AONB and Kingsdown Conservation Area

You may know that Kingsdown Holiday Park is owned by Tingdene. But did you realise that they also own Kingsdown beach (outlined in black above)?

Many villagers are saying already that, if successful, this application will eventually lead to the destruction of all that we love so much about our precious, unspoilt bit of seaside – where we meet up with friends, walk our dogs, play with our kids or quietly sit and dream.

Full details of the application can be found on DDC’s website www.dover.gov.uk. Navigate to the Planning Section and then submitting comments on planning applications. The reference number is DOV/12/01016.
If you want to do something about this development, please remember that no-one will fight our corner for us; least of all our local planning committee.

We have to do it ourselves. So please think about what it means to you and, when you are ready, hit the Dover website and record your comments – the deadline is March 15.

Other KCG news will follow soon.
Regards
Philip Evemy
Chairman
email philip@kingsdownconservation.org.uk
web www. kingsdownconservation.org.uk

Beach Clean at Kingsdown on 6th April

Our Colleagues in Kingsdown Conservation Group have organised a beach clean of Kingsdown Beach on 6th April.

"SeaFrance is the lead sponsor of the national Beachwatch campaign, and as part of its activities, it has committed to monitor and clean Kingsdown beach in Kent four times a year. 

Staff, their families and friends take part in the quarterly beach clean and remove litter from this beautiful stretch of coastline. 

Come along and join us on the 6th April, meeting at 3pm at the Riffle range end, Oldstairs Bay, Kingsdown."

Kingsdowner: New Local Wildlife Site - The Beach

Kingsdowner: New Local Wildlife Site - The Beach